Pastor Finds 706ct. Diamond in Sierra Leone

RAPAPORT... An alluvial miner discovered a 706-carat rough diamond at the Koyadu village in Sierra Leone, the government has confirmed.

The stone was presented to the country’s President Ernest Bai Koroma last week by Paramount Chief Paul Saquee of the Tankoro chiefdom in the Kono district, where artisanal miner Pastor Emmanuel A. Momoh unearthed it. Koroma thanked the chief and his people for not smuggling the diamond out of the country and stressed the importance of selling it in Sierra Leone, according to a government statement.

Doing so “will clearly give the owners what is due them and benefit the country as a whole,” the statement read.

The president gave his assurance that the selling process would be transparent and that the stone would be sold to the highest bidder.

The diamond is believed to be the 13th-largest rough diamond ever found, according to Stellar Diamonds, which operates a mine in Sierra Leone.